I googled “Where is it not hot in August?” – and South America came up (after Iceland). And that is how I ended up going to Chile for an extended long weekend, since l have not been. Blame it on global warming, but what was supposedly winter, it was in the 18C to 23C degrees while I was here. The meals I had were all good. Lots of seafood – including octopus and sea urchin. One of the most flavourful meal I had was when I was in Valparaiso at Maralegre. I had a very late lunch in Santiago one…
Santiago, Chile‘s capital city, has long been overlooked in favour of older and more well-know capital cities in South America. Nestled between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Santiago is no longer a stopover city and is finally coming into its own. The country’s most populated city has a chill and relaxed vibe. The Templo Bahá’í de Sudamérica opened in 2016 and has a luminous structure with nine monumental glass wings that is arranged like a leaf. Made with an external layer of molten glass and the internal layer of translucent marble that allow the passage of light.
Located on central Chile’s Pacific coast, the colonial city of Valparaíso represents an extraordinary example of late 19th century urban architectural development in Latin America. Only 120 kilometres (an hour and a half drive) northwest of the capital Santiago, Valparaíso is Chile‘s main port and known for its bohemian and artistic vibe. Hosting one of the few UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country – Valparaíso is an open air museum full of art, graffiti, and colourful houses displayed within the hills.
Millahue Valley, or named Lugar de Oro by the native Mapuche people, is my first stop after a 10.5 hour flight to Santiago de Chile. Two hours by car (or 160 kms) south of Santiago, the valley is located in the Colchagua wine region in Central Chile, which is sandwiched between the Andes Mountains and the Coastal Mountain Range. The valley’s granitic and volcanic soils merge with an arid Mediterranean climate, causing grapes to ripen slower, often with little intervention. I stayed at Vik Hotel, which is located in the grounds of its namesake vineyard. Vina Vik is situated on…
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